MikeQuigley

I see from many previous blogs that, when you bring a UK car to Spain and re-register it with Spanish plates, the Spanish authorities levy VAT on your car's value (16% VAT I believe). If the car is not new and has a lot of miles on the clock, how is the value assessed ? Does it help to get a valuation in the UK before you bring it ? Any experience from you folks out there will be appreciated !

Mike

Mitzyboy

Not sure where you read that Mike.
If you bring a second hand personal car into Spain that you have owned for more than 6 months in the UK and start the re matriculation procedure within 30 days of residency then you dont get charged any "import registration fees".

Might cost you between €600 & €900 in gestor fees though

MikeQuigley

Thanks Mitzyboy, that sounds interesting. But here is a direct quote from a website called:
http://spainlawyer.com/guialegal/
"You may bring into Spain your EU registered car without further formality but you may not use it in Spain for more than 6 months in a calendar year. If you spend more than 6 months in any year in Spain, you will be considered resident and consequently you must obtain full national plates and pay the special vehicle registration tax (impuesto municipal sobre circulación de vehículos).

You may also matriculate your foreign car on Spanish plates, you shall do it within 2 months from the time of entry. You should present all original documents as it is a complicated procedure".

And, I've just found the following on a website called:
http://www.justlanded.com/english/Sp...mporting-a-Car

"The following taxes and duty must be paid when importing a vehicle into Spain:

VAT ( IVA) at 16 per cent on cars imported from outside the EU or on a tax-free car (on which VAT hasn’t previously been paid) imported from an EU country;
a registration tax ( impuesto sobre circulación de vehículos) of 12 per cent (11 per cent in the Canaries) on petrol-engined vehicles with a capacity of over 1,600cc, four-wheel drive vehicles and diesel-engined vehicles over 2,000cc, and of 7 per cent (6 per cent in the Canaries) on vehicles with smaller engines. However, residents coming to live permanently in Spain and importing a car on which they’ve previously paid VAT and which they’ve owned for at least six months are exempt. An application for exemption must be made within a month of the date of issue of your residence permit, and you must present a certificate of non-residence ( certificado de baja de residencia) from the country you’re leaving.
import duty of 10 per cent on vehicles imported from outside the EU unless you’re a resident (see above).
Each of the above tax rates is applied to the original price of the vehicle, with a reduction for each year of its age up to ten years, e.g. 20 per cent after the first year, 30 per cent after two years, 50 per cent after four years, and 80 per cent after ten years. "

This last quote sounds pretty horrendous in terms of the tax payable - but is it right ?

Mike

Fred James

Yes, it's correct in principle but not in the actual figures.

If you "import" the car at the same time you move permanently to Spain, as it says, you do not have to pay the matriculation tax but it is a fairly complicated procedure.

If you do have to pay the tax, it is now based, not on engine size, but on CO2 emissions and there are now 4 bands varying from 0% to 14.75%.

As Mitzyboy said, you will also have other fees and also the car may need some mods to make it comply with the Spanish "MOT" such as changes to lights etc.

MikeQuigley

Thanks Fred ! I realise that I should have said at the beginning that I am not coming to Spain (Seville city ) permanently - only for 10 - 12 months. Perhaps that alters things ?

Mike

jdr

Not really, cos if you are here for three months you have to register at the police station and they give you a residence certificate including an NIE number, then you will have to start changing your car to Spanish plates.
Although this is best done as soon as you arrive to ease the tax on the car.

valenciatim

Can I point out to the OP that it isn't VAT as that will have been paid in the UK anyway.

VFR

Hello Mike.
The 16% is an import tax & Trafico will tell you what the vehicle is worth according to their list.
Makes no odds that a second-hand RHD car is worth buttons here.
Makes no odds if I gave you the car FOC.
Makes no odds that a UK cars value is a good deal less than here.

First though the car will need to be inspected by an authorised trafico engineer to check that it conforms to Spanish regs ....... about 100eu.

When done & you receive the report, you can now get the car MOTd ....... about 60eu.

You will need to register for tax at your local Hacienda office so you can pay the 16% & pay your car road tax to your local Ayuntamiento (Council)

All this can be done by your local Gestor & will save you a lot of grief for about 60eu

If all goes well you should receive your new plates in about 15 days.

You can avoid the Import Tax by declaring the car as part of your chattel within 30 days, BUT, to do this you will need a form from the British consulate and I'm told that they are expensive ??, and you must have owned the car for at least 6 months.

So you need to ask yourself the question ?
Shall I sell it before I leave ?
Should I make sure that it has a years worth of MOT/Tax before I leave & take a chance ?

My advice is to sell there & buy here after doing some local research & making them prise your money out of your pocket with a JCB

Brian

valenciatim

Firstly, It is NOT an import tax, it is a first registration tax that is applicable to all vehicles registered in Spain.
Secondly, there are hundreds of threads on this forum about it, have a try of the searcg facility at the top!

MikeQuigley

Thanks Brian and Valenciatim for your replies. Brian, can you explain a little more about a car being considered part of one's chattels ? - this sounds like an attractive way of avoiding the registration tax, but I can't see what the logic is, from the point of view of the Spanish authorities.

Regards............Mike

VFR

Feels like an Import Tax when you arrive though, and seeing as he asked a civil question, I thought I would save him the trouble of searching with a civil answer from my own experience.

Brian

VFR

Yes Mike your chattel (old school term) is what you own & can take with you basically.

Brian

MikeQuigley

OK Brian, but why should the Spanish authorities allow what looks like a socking great loophole in the registration process ? The outcome seems to be that a car is not a car that needs to be registered provided that you go through a certain procedure (as you explained).

Mike

VFR

Well it certainly does need to be registered & I certainly had to visit the tax office to register.
You will certainly be exempt "if" you declare it within 30 days, so is it a Tax or Registration fee ? ..............
AH! it must the be a Registration Tax !

Brian

Fred James

Yes it is a huge loophole.

Everyone who buys a car in Spain pays the registration tax and it is expensive compared to the UK - but, hey, we are in Spain so you pay their taxes.

A few years ago some bright spark suggested that if you emigrate to Spain, then the law says that you pay no taxes on your possessions (goods and chattels to use an arcane phrase) that you bring with you.

Should you choose to bring a car with you as part of your possessions then no, you pay no tax of any sort, and that includes the registration tax that the rest of us pay.

That is why it is imperative to go through the matriculation process at the same time as you become resident (or within 30 days) so that your car will be included with the rest of your possessions.

Just in case you feel hard done by, think about the Irish - they have a huge registration tax of their own when they buy the car in the first place and if they come to Spain (and don't take advantage of the 30 day rule) they get clobbered for the Spanish tax on top!